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Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Great Eastern Holdings New Business Embedded Value grew 20% in first half of 2017

Great Eastern Holdings Reports Strong Operating Results for First Half of 2017

Group Profit Attributable to Shareholders Increased by 150% and New Business Embedded Value Grew 20%

Great Eastern Holdings Limited (the “Group”) announced its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2017.The Group’s Total Weighted New Sales (“TWNS”) and New Business Embedded Value (“NBEV”) growth for the first half of 2017 was strong at 17% and 20% respectively. The Group continued its sales momentum through Q2-17, driving growth in TWNS and NBEV which increased by 6% and 17% respectively over the same period last year TWNS growth was due to strong contribution from the agency channels in our core markets and bancassurance channel in Singapore.

TWNS for 1H-17 and Q2-17 rose by S$76.3 million and S$13.6 million respectively from a year ago, driven by an increase in sales across all channels. NBEV, a measure of long-term economic profitability, recorded a 20% growth in 1H-17 over 1H-16. Higher sales and NBEV margins in our core markets contributed to the Group’s NBEV growth.The Group’s profit attributable to shareholders for 1H-17 increased by 150% compared to a year ago. This increase was due to higher operating and non-operating profit, as well as higher profit from shareholders’ fund’s investments. The Capital Adequacy Ratios of the Group’s insurance subsidiaries in both Singapore and Malaysia remain strong and well above their respective minimum regulatory levels.

Dividend

The Board of Directors has declared an interim one-tier tax exempt dividend of 10 cents per ordinary share for the financial year ending 31 December 2017, to be paid on 31 August 2017. Commenting on the Group’s 1H-17 financial results, Group Chief Executive Officer Mr Khor Hock Seng said: “The Group has achieved robust growth for the first half of the year. We continued the business momentum to deliver a strong set of operating results in the second quarter of 2017. The improvement in operating performance is a result of the significant contribution from our multi-channel distribution by our agents and bancassurance partners. We continued to see sustained and positive growth during Q2-17 in our key operating metrics such as Group Profit Attributable to Shareholders, New Business Embedded Value and Total Weighted New Sales. This strong performance is an indicator of the underlying strength of our business fundamentals.